Bearing



E. F. W. ALEXANDERSUN.

BEARING.

APPLICANON FILED Nov, ze; 1918.

UNITED STATES N)PATENT oEEioE.

ERNST F. W. .ALEXANDERSON, OF SCHENECTADY, NEWYORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL `ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept'. 2, 1919.

'u all wlw/n vz5/may concer-n:

le itknown'. lthat I. vllnxs'i F. 1V. A\LExxxnicnsox, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the. county of Schenectady,l State of New York, have invented cert-,ain new and useful Improvements in Bearings, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to bearings and is particularly adapted for use with high frequency alternators of the inductor type. In my prior Patent. No. 1.110.030 I have described and claimed a means for equalizing the. thrust upon two bearings located at opposite. ends of a shaft which cai'- ries a rotor adapted to revolve at high speed.

The form of bearing shown in my patent is especially adapted for small or moderate sized machines.

r1`he object of my present invention is to provide an improved system for equalizing the thrust upon the two bearings located at opposite ends of the shaft which will be particularly adapted for ilse with machines of large, output.` 4

The novel features which 1 believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particnlarity in the appended claims,

the invention itself, however, both with' respect to its organization and method of operation will best be understood by refei'ence to the following description taken 4in connection with the acconipanyingdrawing in which Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a machine which is equipped with my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the system of levers by which movement of one bearing is communicated to the other hearing;.Fig. 8 is an end view of an eccentric shaft which forms part. of the equalizing system: Fig. 4 is a cross-section of a portion of the eccentric shaft showingthe arrangement of certain bearings on that shaft, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of these bearings.

The machine shown in the drawings comprising a frame 1 to which ai'e secured the frame heads 2 by means of the. bolts 3. FrameI heads 2 carry end rings -L which support circumferentially laminated core rings the laminations being held in place by the clamping rings and T. The frame 1. frame heads L) aml rings l. 5. (3 and 7 are all divided along the horizontal center line of the machine for convenience in assembling. A solid magnetic inductor S is mounted on the shaft l) so that its periphery is between the opposite faces of the core rings 5. Excitation for the field of the machine is furnished by the fieldl coil 1() which is coiicenti'ic with the inductor b' or by the coils 11, 12.13 and 14. these coils being semi-circular in forni and arranged so that each one embraces the periphery of one half of the `frame v1.-

The periphery of the linductor S is slotted on each side with approximately radial slots (not shown in the drawing) so as to form magnetic poles opposite the faces of the. laminated core rings 5. In order to avoid excessive windage at the high speed at which the inductor is .designed to operate the slots in the inductor periphery are filled with non-magnetic members securely fastened therein in any suitable manner. VThe air gaps between the inductorand the laminated core. rings may be adjusted by moving end rings l with respect to the fraiue heads 2 by means of the adjusting bolts 15. The shaft 9 of the maohine is carried by two bearings 16 of the-'self-alining type. Each of these. bearings i's provided with a housing 1T which is carried by the frame head 2 and which is mo v'able with respect thereto. 'Portions `1Q- ofthe shaft S) are grooved. The grooved portions 1H of the shaft are surrounded by members 1S) which are gi'ooved on their inner sides to tit thel grooves in the shaft 9 so that they hoth support the, weight of the shaft andare adapted to receive an end thrustfon the shaft. Members 19 are slotted and pierced with holes to receive oil which may he supplied to the bearings through the holes :20.

The frame heads 2 carry brackets 21 which support rotatable men'ibers which in the present case take the form efec-centric shafts 2:2 at each end of the machine. The bearing housings 1T carry links Q3 which are rotat= ably mounted upon the housings by means of the pins Q4. Fixed toV the lower. ends of Lever arm 25 has rioidlv secured i will cause a. corresponding n'iovement of the other vlever through the flexible connection l the bearings caused, for example, by an unbalancing of the magnetic pull on the rotor S or by contraction or expansion of the shaft 9 due to changes intemperature,-will produce a corresponding change in the pressure upon the other bearing in the following manner: Pressure'exerted upon either one of the thrust bearings is comn'iunicated to the housing 1T and'through the housing to thel links 23. The pressure brought to bear upon these links tends to rotate the eccentric shaft 22. This causes a movement in the lever arln attached to the shaft and a corresponding movement in the otherv lever arm which equalizes the pressure upon the two bearings. The springs 3l are preferably so adjusted that they will cause the leversQ and 26 to exert equal pressures upon thrust bearings and the pressure thus exerted should be greater than that produced by any overbalanced magnetic pull' which maybe set up in the machine. Under these conditions the bearings will retain certain fixed positions as long as the length of the shaft remains "-.fixed. rlhey will, however, move equally with' any changes in the length ofthe shaft due to temperature changes and the lnductor 8'Will therefore relnain fixed in its central position.

In order bearings may be equalized under all conditions` it is desirable that friction in the link bearings should be reduced to aminimum. In order to accomplish this I have arranged the bearings on the eccentric shaft in such a way that the forces acting on these shafts are transmitted thereto only along lilies which are substantially coii'i'cident with the axes of rotation of each shaft@- The manner vin which this is done is indicated in Figs. 4

and Recesscs and 36 arelnovided in the eccentric shaft and at the bottom of these recesses are provided hard steel bearing` plates 3T having grooves 38 upon their faces. these grooves being substantially coincident with the axes of rotation of the shaft. Brackets 21 and the links Q3 carry` pins 39 having their ends rounded at 40 to form a knife edge to engage the grooves 38. Pressure between the eccentric shaft'QQ land the bracket 21 and link Q3 is transferred entirely from the pins 29 tothe bearing plates 3T and the portions of the brackets 21v and links QB which surround the shafts serve that the pressure upon the two merely as guides and supports for the pins 39.

While I have illustrated and described/af single modification of my invention, I do not wish to be limited to the exact structure shown as it will be apparent that lnany Variationsmay be made in the precise structure used as Well as in the arrangement of the various elements without departing from the scope of the, appended claims.

IV hat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Iatent of the United States, is

1. In combination, a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings, a rotor member secured to said shaft between said bearings, each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of thel shaft, housings in which said bearings are supported, said housings being capable of longitudinal!movement'wi-th the bearings under a longitudinal thrust of the shaft, rotatable members operatively connected to each of said bearings and having bearings around which they are capable of rotation, movable links each having one end attached to one of'said housings and having a bearing' on the other end upon a portion of one of said rotatable members, so located that movement of anyone of said links will produce a rotation of the member to which it is connected, lever arms connected to each of said rotatable members and extending toward each other, and means connecting the ends of said lever arms whereby a movement of one lever arm will produce a` corresponding movement of the other lever arm.

2f In combination, a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings, a rotor member secured to sald s haft between said bearings, each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, an eccentric shaft near each supporting bearing having fixed bearings around which it is capable of rotation, connections between said supporting bearings and.. said: eccentric shafts whereby a movement. of said supporting bearings will produce a rotation of said eccentric shafts, lever armsl connected to each ofsaid eccentric shafts and extending toward each other, and a yielding connection between the ends of said lever arms whereby a movement of one lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever arm.

3. In combination, a rotatable shaft oper- I atively mounted upon two supporting bearings, a rotor member secured to said shaft between'said bearings, each of said bearingsl being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movenientof the shaft, a ro- A tatable member near each supporting bearing having fixed bearings around which it is capable of rotation, connectionsbetween said supporting'bearings and said rotatab-le members whereby a movement of said supporting bearings will produce a rotation of said members, leverarms connected to each of said rotatable members and ext-ending toward each other, a yielding connection between the ends of said lever arms whereby a movement of o-ne lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of another lever arm, and springs operatively related to the ends of said lever arms so as to produce nnder normal conditions equal and opposite pressures in a longitudinal direction upon the two supporting bearings.

il. In combination, a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, eccentric shafts located near the ends of said rotatable shaft and having fixed bearings around which they are capable of rotation, connections between said supporting' bearings and said eccentric shafts whereby a movement of said supporting bearings willproduce a rotation of the eccentric shafts, means whereby the forces acting between the eccentric shafts and the bearings are applied to said shafts only along lines which are substantially coincident with their two axes of rotation, lever arms connected to each of said eccentric shafts and extending toward each other and a yielding connection between the ends of said lever arms whereby a movement of one lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever arm.

5. In combination, a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings, each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, eccentric shafts located near the ends of said rotatable shaft and having fixed bearings around which they are capable of rotation, connections between said supporting bearings and said eccentric shafts whereby a movement of said supporting bearings will produce a rotation of the eccentric shafts, means whereby the forces acting between the eccentric shafts and supporting bearingsare applied to said shafts only along lines which are substantially coincident with their two axes of rotation, lever arms connected to each of said eccentric shafts and extending toward each other, a yielding connection between the ends of said lever arms whereby. a movement of one lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever arm, and springs operatively related to the ends of said lever arms so as to produce under normal conditions equal and opposite pressures in a longitudinal direction upon the two supporting bearings.

(i. The combination of a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, rotatable members located near the ends of said rotatable shaft, each of said rotatable members having a fixedv axis of rotation and a movable axis of rotation bearirgs for said rotatable members comprising grooves which are substantially coincident with the axes of rotation of said members, and pins having knife edges at their ends which engage with said grooves, connections between said supporting bearings and the bearings of said rotatable members whereby a movement of said supporting bearings will produce a rotation of the rotatable members, the forces acting to produce such rotati'ul being transferred' entirely between the pins and the grooves, lever arms connected to each of said rotatable members and extending toward each other and a yielding connection between said lever arms when by a movement of one lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever arm.

7. The combination of a rotatable member havinga'fixed axis of rotation and a movable axis of rotation and bearings for said member comprising recesses formed in said member, grooved bearing plates fixed in said recessesand pins having knife edges at their ends which engage the grooves in said bearing plates, the whole being so arranged that forces acting between thel member and the bearingsto produce rotation of the member y are transferred entirely between the pins and the bearing plates.

8. The'eombination of an eccentric shaft having a fixed axis of rotation and a movable axisy 'of rotation and bearings for said shaft comprising recesses formed in said shaft, grooved bearing plates fixed in said recesses, the grooves in said plates being substantially coincident with the axes of rotation of said shaft, and pins having knife edges at their ends which engage said grooves, the whole being 'so arranged that forces acting between the shaft and the bearings to produce rotation of the shaft are transferred entirely between the pins and the bearing plates.

9. The combination of a rotatable member having a fixed axis of rotation and a movable axis of rotation, and bearings for said member comprising grooves which are sub'- stantially coincident with the axes of rotai tion of said member, and pins having ends which engage said grooves, the whole being so arranged that forces acting between the member and the bearings to produce rotation ofthe member are transferred`entirely between the pins and the grooves.

10. In' combination. a rotatable shaft operatively mounted between two supporting bearings, a rotor member secured to said shaft between said bearings, each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, housings in which said bearings are supported, said housings being capable of longitudinal movement with the bearings under a longitudinal thrust of the shaft, eccentric .shafts operatively connected to each of said bearings and having fixed bearings around which they are capable of rotation, movable links each having one end attached to one of said housings and having a bearing on the other end around the eccentric portion of one of said eccentric shafts so that a Inovement of any one of .said links will produce a rotation of the eccentric shaft to which it is connected, the eccentric shaft bearings being so arranged that the forces acting on the eccentric shafts are transmitted thereto only along lines which are substantially coincident with the two axes of rotation of each of said eccentric shafts, lever arms connected to each of said eccentric shafts and extending toward each other, a rigid link secured to the end of one lever arm and extending at a right angle therefrom, a spring member secured to the end of the other lever arm and extending at a right angle therefrom, the free end of said spring member being secured to the free end of said link so that a movementy of one lever arm Will produce a Copies of this patent may be obtained for corresponding movement of the other lever arm and springs operatively related to the ends of said lever arms so as to produce under normal conditions equal and vopposite pressures in a longitudinal direction upon the two supporting bearings.

1l. In combination, a rotatable shaft operatively mounted upon two supporting bearings, each of said bearings being so constructed as to normally limit longitudinal movement of the shaft, rotatable members located near the ends of said shaft having two axes of rotation and having knife edge bearings around which they are capable of rotation, connections between said support-- ing bearings and said rotatable members whereby a movement of said supporting bearings will produce a rotation of said rotatable members, said bearings for said members being substantially coincident with their axes of rotation, lever arms connected to each of said rotatable members and extending toward each other, and a yielding connection between the ends of said lever arms whereby a movement of one lever arm will produce a corresponding movement of the other lever arm.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of November, 1918.

ERNST F. W. ALEXANDERSON.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

